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Are dispatchers creating any value?


How is it that we have run service businesses for years with relegating control of the majority of revenue generators to a reasonably fluid position?  When you think about the traditional dispatcher / scheduler (coordinator) these positions may be non-career based workers or "stepping stones" to another position.  Yet the movement, allocation, scheduling, favoritism (unfortunate), subjective points of reference, of your valuable field workers is dumped in their laps.  Sure, checks and balances exist within many organizations with supervisors, service and ops managers, etc. however, the moment to moment ground battle is led by these front line workers.  Please make no mistake, these comments are not focused on the individuals performing these often difficult jobs, instead they are aimed directly at the archaic process, come on folks it is 2016!



Unfortunately, like many things stuck between the old fashioned approach and the anticipation of things to come, attempts have been made to "optimize" these steps within the operation.  In many cases the solution was increasing the worker to dispatcher/scheduler ratios, only exasperating an already very flawed approach.  We have inadvertently forced these coordinators to spend an inordinate amount of time on the phone with the workers and not the customers!  Crazy, right?  Instead consider leveraging web service based data to contribute into logical engines to assist in the selection of the best possible worker, objective points of measurement designed to increase productivity and enhance customer value.  I encourage you to focus on methods which compel behavioral change and not just add logistics data on top of a transactional work order management system.  Of course much easier said than done; the tools are available and can turn this random process into predicable and profit driving action.  The best news is that your dispatchers / schedulers can once again serve as your best client advocates while you regain the ability to flex to your business demands in a proactive way. 



Next post:  blending internal and external labor is great; however, can you trust the subcontractor?
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